- Fully enclosed
- Great print size
- Incredibly stable
The Qidi X-Max 3 is one such large-format 3D printer, but unlike most on the market, the X-Max 3 is fully enclosed. This makes it better for filaments than run hot, and for keeping small hands away from the heat. While the premise of the X-Max 3 is a good one, the execution falls down in a few key areas.
Qidi X-Max 3 specifications
The filament holder keeps the moisture out but makes feeding it problematic.
The other issue for me is the filament spool holder placement. It has to go somewhere, and the Qidi includes a sealed spool holder with room to add desiccant to keep your filament dry, which is a helpful touch. But it’s placed on the back of the machine, making it difficult to access. Most people using a 3D printer will have it pushed against a wall, on a shelf or on a workbench, so having to pull it out to get to the filament is a huge pain point.
This is especially irritating when you are printing on large-volume 3D printers that can use an entire roll of filament on one print. It also means you have to continually relevel the bed because you have jostled the machine around to replace the filament. A side-mounted spool holder is always going to preferable for a machine this size.
The rear filament holder also adds a lot of extra tubing. These tubes are designed to keep the filament from tangling as it moves through the filament run-out sensor, and into the extruder. But it’s almost impossible to feed it through the tiny tiny tube into the sensor, then through the sensor into another tube that passes through the top of the machine, then into another tiny hole, all without seeing the filament.
